Simon's Space

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SJPONeill
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by SJPONeill »

Grandtwins have landed so all glues, sharps etc are packed away...shaved back the excess Milliput from the bow and added the bulkhead sheets for that area. I'm finding that the UHU water-based glue doesn't work so good on the Gibfilla and painted surfaces of the hull so have switched to classic UHU glue (the stringy stuff) which is trickier to apply to larger surfaces but which sticks to anything...also used this to touch up a couple of spots where the sheets had lifted.

For anyone who may be interested in having a crack at some simple and fun paper models, Fiddlers Green is offering a diiferent model as a free download each week at the moment: http://www.Fiddlersgreen.net;

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ...till 1/27
Sea Gull Flying Boat ...till 1/27
Me-262 Swallow ...till 1/27
Curtiss P-40 War Hawk..till 1/27
P-51 Mustang coming next
FW-190 coming next
Next freebes from.. WWI
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SJPONeill
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Re: Simon's Space

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OK...deep breaths...no more stalling...off to do battle with these hull sheets...
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Re: Simon's Space

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After much stalling and procrastinating, I have added the hull strips around the bow and along the sides...just the two stern pieces to go now - would have done those tonight too but realised late that I had not cut out the hole for the anchor chain. Like most things the anticipation of the act was far worse than the actual execution...

Used the Uhu 'stringy glue this time on the painted surfaces and it has held a lot better however is a really pain for long thin pieces and I have some smear marks which I hope will be scrapeable in the morning's light...

If all goes according to plan, I will be add the rest of the deck this weekend and will then be able to start on the meat of the superstructure - a mere three years after I first stumbled into this project...

Some lessons:

build up the glue on the edges of the sheet so that there is enough to soak into the paper to ensure that the edges stick - my initial attempt had the Uhu spread quite thin which was OK except where the edge was on a curve.

Next lesson - have a damp cloth ready to wipe away any surplus glue that oozes out when the sheets are burnished (also good for wiping hands to avoid smear marks).

Clamping the long straight edge to the cuting board eliminates and movement in the edge while cutting.

Next time I do a ship like this with cardboard formers, finish it quicker as all the stalling and delays have allowed some minor deformation due to natural moisture absorption - not much but she's no longer as true as she was. Possible also apply some liberal coats of sealer...or use another material (basswood perhaps) for the formers...

Too late tonight for pics but I had to do an emergency run into town today and remembered to get some camera batteries so back in business there...
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SJPONeill
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Re: Simon's Space

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OK, then...the traumatic part is over...Whew!!!!

Hull side sheets awaiting cutting
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Working my way around the hull...bow and side sheets fitted, just the stern to go...
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I tried using plasticine to support mounting of the bow side wall but it wouldn't stay stuck to the deck...the sticky-out bit on the right is the wall waiting to be mounted - it is a flap attached to the bow sheet. I don't think it's a particularly good design and that it would probably be a separate part comprising both side and that could be folded over to represent the ineer and outer surfaces without a bare edge along the top.
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After the plasticine failure, I resorted to tacking the side in place along the lower edge. Amazingly both sides attached OK except that all my fettling of the hull sides darkened the shade so now I have two different shades along the bow - no biggie: hoping that some judicious weathering will blend the two.
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Re: Simon's Space

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Except that there a a bit of a gap right at the pointy bit that I have yet to fill...

The completed bow
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I thought that I had taken a picture of it but I added all the angled braces that support the bow wall; 14 little triangular pieces that went in really smoothly but, as I found, will fly a mile if the bow side flexs at all. The join between the wall and the deck is quite fragile so I will probably dribble some more glue along the interior seam to strengthen it up.

There are also the odd gap around some of the seams where the hull has distorted in the time it has taken me to psych myself into completing the hull - I'll see how it looks when I get some more of the deck fittings fitted and see what I can conceal under 'stuff'...

Being on a bit of a roll, I moved right on to fitting the main deck sheets - the stern sheet went on beautifully but the forward sheet (which covers the forward 2/3) reacted with the glue and all bubbled up. The pale areas on the forward deck is where I have been trying to rub out the bubbles. As it happened, I needn't have panicked as it seems that the bubbles started to go down as the glue cured - I'm away from the next couple of days so will see what it is like when I get home.

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Just to get a feel for what the next stage will look like I temporarily placed the deckhouse structures in place...

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Lessons from the last couple of days:

Big sheets of paper stretch - I was worried that the forward deck sheet was about 2mm too short but after I fixed it in place, I had about a 1.5mm surplus left over the forward edge of the main deck.

When I test-fitted the forward main deck sheet, I didn't really thing about checking the smoothness of the underlying surface as, of course, the rigid dry paper sat smoothly over any minor roughness. Different story altogether when the paper is soft with glue and the very forward edge of the main deck is quite bumpy where the sheet has conformed to the contours of the under-surface...should not be a diffuclt thing to fix but lesson learned.
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Marek
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by Marek »

That looks really cool. I have tried to tackle bulding a semi-container vessel I spent some time on (straight from plans, with plastic sheets and paper) and failed right after building up the hull :) so I know how much quality work goes into your project. Mindnumbling. Simply pleasure to watch the progress.
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Re: Simon's Space

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Just working on cropping and resizing Four Engined GB https://uamf.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=182 pics...in the meantime here's one of my modelling assistants...

Image
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malepo
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by malepo »

paper ?!?!??? oh man that looks great so far - I always thought of trying that once myself but I'm afraid I will end up having all that paper glued everywhere
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SJPONeill
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by SJPONeill »

Hi Martin

In Germany, you are ideally placed to have an adventure with paper models as there is a large paper modelling community there (check out http://www.kartonbau.de;) and also easy access to a ranged of commercial preprinted paper models which are extremely inexpensive compared to similar plastic subjects (I can personally recommend this place http://www.kartonmodellshop.de/shop/index.php; as good value, great service and fast shipping)...

The main thing to remember with paper modelling is that, when coming from a plastic modelling background you need to learn new techniques and approaches and acquire some different tools (KartonBau has all this support for German=speakers and the Englishing-speaking equivalent would be http://www.papermodelers.com;). Generally paper modelling is less expensive than plastic but requires more precision in cutting and assembly, because the medium is less forgiving and there is way less scope for concelaing an misfits or errors behind a gollop of filler and a dash of paint...

Just thinking on it, a good source of interesting (to me anyway) free paper models is Martin Saenger's site here http://www.paperaviation.de; with some very cool science-fiction themed models; Kartonbau and Paper Modelling both have extensive download libraries but you do need to register in order to access these. Other good places to check out for free paper models to have a go at are http://www.paper-replika.com; and http://myhobbycraft.blogspot.co.nz/;

Have a go!!


Simon
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Re: Simon's Space

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Image

It looks a lot worse than it is...these are the major structural components of the superstructure that I thought I'd fill with expanding foam to provide a solid backing for the walls.

Got a bit out of hand as the can of foam I bought was actual meant to be fitted to a separate trigger assembly...in the absence of said trigger assembly, I tried releasing the foam by pressing directly on the nozzle - it worked - to a point - but control was, shall we say, erratic...

I then made matters worse by trying to finesse the foam into corners I had missed due to aforementioned control issues...needless to say, the Golden Rule remains 'Don't touch the foam til its fully cured'...

I'll let the parts sit until the weekend and then tidy them up with a large sharp knive...

And for those who were funnin' with me last week about HER little blur booties, here's what the garage workspace currently looks like...not the most hospitable at the moment....
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Re: Simon's Space

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Since my track record with re-using cans of expanding foam, lined up a few other projects to take the excess foam...one of them is the Airmodel BV-238 that I had contemplated doing for the Four and More Engines GB...might as well progress it a little anyway...

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I've laid some black tape over the areas that I will be removing foam: the cockpit and the retractable wing float bays. Peeling away the tape once I have carved away the foam presents a smooth clean plastic surface to work on...

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The bits all foamed - will let them sit and cure for the rest of the week and then use a hand saw to slice away the surplus foam. I'd really like to figure out a way to do this with a little less waste but it seems unavoidable. Only later did I realise that I had missed filling one of the engine nacelle halves - will have to wait til I do my next foaming (not from the mouth!!) session...
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by SJPONeill »

Stamford wrote:
MerlinJones wrote:I was admiring his little blue booties ;-)
Be fair - it does look a tad chilly out in the garage :ha:
Here's a shot of it a bit warmer...

Image

and here, a rare shot with the dust cover removed for some actual modelling to occur...

Image
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Re: Simon's Space

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After letting the foam cure for a whole week, the Udarnyj parts went from this

Image

to this

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...and the BV-238 bits looked more like this after some judicious trimming with a common wood saw...

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Re: Simon's Space

Post by Old_Tonto »

An interesting idea using expanding foam. Can't wait to see how they turn out.
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SJPONeill
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Re: Simon's Space

Post by SJPONeill »

For vacs, the foam is great for adding rigidity, especially presanding...the sheets that were quite wobbly are now quite rigid...the absolutely trick with expanding foam is NOT to inject it into any confined spaces, along with along lots of time for a full cure...otherwise you end up with a large Imperial Walker that looks like the Michelin Man version - never thought to take any pictures of it at the time but it was one sick puppy!

Because I used the wrong sort of can - the sort that clips into a spray gun - I didn't have the long nozzle attachement that I normally use to inject the foam into all the corners; that's why you can see gaps around some of the edges where the foam hasn't fully cover the space. Done properly, the foam should completely fill each piece...
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